David Koubbi, above, the lawyer for Tristane Banon, left, speaks in Paris on Thursday about prosecutors’ decision to drop a sex-assault case against former IMF chief Dominique Strauss- Kahn, top left, because of the statute of limitations.

PARIS — French prosecutors say Dominique Strauss-Kahn did something to a writer that qualifies as sexual assault but they can’t send him to trial because it happened too long ago, and they are dropping the case.

Thursday’s announcement is a legal victory but a moral embarrassment for the suave, assured and married economist who earlier this year led the International Monetary Fund and was on track to seek the French presidency.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said it has dropped an investigation into writer Tristane Banon’s claim that Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her during a 2003 interview for a book the then-23-year-old was writing. But it said — without offering details — that Strauss-Kahn admitted during questioning to actions that qualify for sexual assault, a lesser charge than attempted rape.

Strauss-Kahn’s lawyer told The Associated Press that the ex-IMF chief admitted only that he tried to kiss Banon without her consent and she refused.

Under French law, sexual assault is an attack that does not involve an attempt to penetrate the victim. Prosecutors can’t pursue the charge because the statute of limitations is three years. On attempted rape, it’s 10 years.

The Larimer County coroner on Sunday performed an autopsy on the body found on a farm just east of Loveland Saturday, but the office will not release the cause of death or the identity of the person until they can track down next of kin.